Brass T-Bar C385

Brass or architectural bronze?

Often referred to as architectural bronze, c385 is in fact a brass alloy. Bronze is copper with tin added, whereas brass is copper with zinc added. However, the two materials are very similar in appearance.

Brass is one of the most commonly used alloys on the globe, both in the modern day and throughout history. Brass was popular across the ancient world, most notably in China, India, the Middle East, Greece, and the Roman Empire.

What value is brass T-bar?

Brass T-Bar c385/architectural bronze is commonly used for ornamental and decorative purposes such as trim, thresholds, hinges, and hardware. Also, T-bar is frequently used in structural applications as the shape of the Brass T-Bar c385 makes it great for projects that require load bearing. Specifically, the top portion of the T (flange) resists compressive stresses, where the bottom (web) resists shear stresses and prevents the flange from bending or buckling.

The c385 is mechanically similar to the c360 brass (free machining brass), with the main difference being that the c360 has a slightly higher lead content in order to make it marginally more machinable. The c360′s machinability rating is 100, whereas the c385 is 90.

c385 brass/architectural bronze has a yellow-gold color that is pleasing to the eye and which also makes it a very good color match with both c280 Muntz Sheet and c464 Naval brass. The material has good corrosion resistance when outdoors, though only fair resistance to weathering in marine environments.

Like all brasses, the c385 is nonmagnetic, and it has a density of .303 – .315 lbs/cu in (8.4 – 8.73 g/cu cm). This alloy has great formability when heated, making it popular for extrusions and forgings but it is rated as poor for cold working.

c385 brass/architectural bronze can be soldered and brazed, it is very machinable but cannot be hardened by heat treating.